The best way to get your daughter on the right path is for you to decide what food your child is offered. Stand strong and stick with your authority, especially with the grandparents. Ask them to respect your food choices for your child. The best nutrition goal for your daughter is to learn to eat your family’s food and enjoy family mealtime. Make meal times a priority by setting a positive example with your family and take time to fully enjoy your food. Eating too fast or when your attention is elsewhere may lead to over eating.

You are a good parent to be honest with your child and not try to sneak vegetables into their food. If you are dishonest with children about their food, they become suspicious, cautious, and reluctant to try new food. Why not try to grow a few vegetable plants together with your family? You could also take them to a farmers' market or grocery store and have them pick out one vegetable that looks interesting to them.

Pediasure was designed for use in hospitals with feeding tubes to assist recovery. While lots of money is invested in the marketing of these products, the ingredients are full of sugar and contain synthetic nutrients processed in a laboratory. Scientist believe that naturally occurring whole foods are the best source of nutrients for a healthy body, while processed foods are associated with obesity, allergies, diabetes and other health problems.

Fresh baked bread is yummy! It’s really common for kids and teenagers to get into “food jags,” or get stuck on eating the same thing every day. It may be a habit that they will grow out of on their own. Should you be concerned? It’s difficult to say without more information about the rest of his/her diet, and lifestyle. Eating bread every day can absolutely fit into a healthy diet. Whole grain bread is always a better choice than white bread, but if your 13 year old is eating whole grain bread some of the time, or as long as there are other whole grains in their diet, it’s likely fine.

It really can be tough to get toddlers to eat new foods. Right now, it’s important that you continue to offer foods to your daughter, even if she refuses them. It can take 10-12 times of offering a food for a child to decide to eat it. This can feel discouraging, but know that you are not alone in this challenge! I would suggest giving her small portions of a variety of foods that you eat, you don’t need to buy expensive specialized baby food for her.

Vegetables are definitely an important part of a balanced diet, and it sounds like she's missing out on getting a lot of nutrients! It could be that she has never had vegetables prepared in an appealing way. If she has only eaten over-cooked, flavorless vegetables, then I could understand her dislike for them! We have many recipes on EatFresh.org that include vegetables and taste delicious.

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This material was funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. SNAP provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. It can help you buy nutritious foods for a better diet. To find out more, visit mybenefitscalwin.org.